The cold and dark months of winter are the time when we spend more time indoors and turn up our heating. It’s also the time when our energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions go sky high. We all need to keep warm, but we can do it in a greener, cleaner way. Here are top five tips for staying warm over winter. 1. Use heavy curtains to stop heat escaping from your windows Up to 40 per cent of the heat escaping from your home in winter is from … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2013
CO2 Pollution Levels at Annual Record High!
World carbon dioxide pollution levels in the atmosphere are accelerating and reached a record high in 2012, the U.N. weather agency said last Wednesday. The heat-trapping gas, pumped into the air by cars and smokestacks, was measured at 393.1 parts per million last year, up 2.2 ppm from the previous year, said the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization in its annual greenhouse gas inventory. That is far beyond the 350 ppm that some … [Read more...]
World Kindness Day: a day dedicated to kindnesses, big and small.
World Kindness Day — observed annually on Nov. 13 — is exactly what it sounds like: The holiday is the project of The World Kindness Movement, and can trace its start to the birth of the WKM in Tokyo, in 1997. The day is observed in several countries around the world, according to Wikipedia, including Australia, Italy, Singapore, Canada, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. This year's World Kindness Day falls not even a week after Typhoon … [Read more...]
California’s Community Colleges Go Solar with Sun Power
At the Community College Facility Coalition Annual Conference in Sacramento Wednesday 6th November announced it has installed approximately 20 megawatts (MW) of solar power systems at 12 community college districts in California. The systems are generating enough clean, renewable solar electricity to power more than 4,100 California homes each year, according to calculations provided by the Solar Energy Industries Association. If the colleges … [Read more...]
Floating Bamboo House
Integrating disaster resistance along with local building traditions, Vietnamese H&P Architects' have designed an affordable bamboo house that floats when it floods. A real-life prototype of the modular design has since been constructed, using locally abundant materials like bamboo and coconut leaf, along with more engineered stuff like fiberboard. Intended to withstand floods of up to 1.5 meters (4.9 feet), the 3.3 by 6.6 meter (10.8 by … [Read more...]
Wise Words For Friday…
Words From the Poet Laureate: Hi Again and Birthday Poem
Today we have two illuminating poems, "Hi Again" and "Birthday Poem," from David Tucker, the Poet Laureate of the Quantum Revolution. A Vermont-based poet, David is an insightful commentator on our internal and external cultural, spiritual and political milieu.
Hi Again
When, naked and empty, I am delivered from busy streets into the quiet city of death, I will cry, I will be frightened a … [Read more...]Singapore Kindness Movement
Each week, Elisa Ng trawls the streets of Singapore picking up rubbish discarded by her fellow citizens. She is not searching for treasure hidden in the litter. Her only goal is to leave the city a little cleaner than before. "I want to encourage other people to pick up a piece of litter every day," she says. Recently, she chased an errant lorry driver who had thrown a plastic bag from his window. "He looked quite apprehensive and … [Read more...]
A Random Act of Kindness to Brighten Your Day!
Solar Power Expert
Did you know who is the most competent solar power expert, according to a research team from Tel Aviv University? It is the humble common Oriental hornet found in our gardens! Much to the astonishment of the scientists and researchers, the hornet utilizes solar power much like a plant and it produces electricity. Think how much easier it would be if only we could unravel how the hornet manages it. This discovery could revolutionize future solar … [Read more...]